Congregations in Midland experience different lessons on pistol-packing, praising

By Brandon Mulder | bmulder@mrt.com

Published 1:22 pm, Thursday, June 18, 2015

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This 2012 MRT file photo depicts a paintball gun that caused confusion and resulted in a SWAT team showing up at St. Mark's United Methodist Church. In the aftermath of the recent horrific mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, some churches in Midland fear the presence of private guns on their properties could do more harm than good. less

This 2012 MRT file photo depicts a paintball gun that caused confusion and resulted in a SWAT team showing up at St. Mark's United Methodist Church. In the aftermath of the recent horrific mass shooting at a ... more

Congregations in Midland experience different lessons on pistol-packing, praising

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Wednesday night’s news out of Charleston, South Carolina, of a gunman taking nine lives in a church sparked debate over more or less gun control. But despite the pro-gun atmosphere throughout the city, Midland churches are split on the carrying of weapons on church grounds.

In 1997 the Texas Legislature passed an amendment that allowed places of worship to be treated as private property in regard to concealed carry rights. Two years earlier, the concealed carry law prohibited licensed individuals from carrying in a church, according to Alice Tripp, legislative director of the Texas State Rifle Association.

“In 1997 it went from ‘no you can’t have one in a church’ to churches post their property off-limits if they wanted to, they didn’t have to,” Tripp said. “It was left up to the people in charge of the church, whether it’s the ministry, the minister or a combination of both.”

In 1999 a lawmaker attempted to repeal the amendment to reinstate the prohibition in churches, but the bill received little support and died in the House committee without a single vote.

“A Lutheran minister that I know came to the committee hearing and testified and he said that our country was founded on the separation of church and state, and he did not need the state of Texas telling him how to manage his congregation,” Tripp said. “That should be up to the church and the congregation.”

Midland churches take various approaches. At True-Lite Christian Fellowship, a “safety team” is planted throughout the congregation -- a few armed individuals with church-approval to carry on the premises, according to Rev. Roy Smith.

“It has to be by a letter from my hand to approve the individual, and that only after proper and continual training,” Smith said in an email. “I feel very strongly about church security because we are living in very dangerous times especially as it related to Christians who stand up for traditional values.”

Other churches have similar policies. Some did not wish to be identified for the sake of reserving the element of surprise and so as to not alarm some congregation members.

Stonegate Fellowship Church, on the other hand, posts legal signage prohibiting firearms on the church campus. The church delegates security matters to local armed law enforcement officers, according to Stonegate Pastor David McReynolds.

“We put a plan together with those guys and they’ve said if something was to happen, they’d want to know who all has guns as long as there are guns on the campus,” McReynolds said. “They’re here to protecting us.”

Since the enactment of the 1995 legislation, Catholic churches in Midland under the Diocese of San Angelo allow no firearms on church premises, according to Msgr. James Bridges of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church. Like Stonegate, St. Stephen’s also employs an armed, certified police guard to patrol the parking areas, Bridges said.

“No one’s really prepared for someone that is deranged. We can’t protect ourselves from against every possible danger,” Bridges said.

“We live in a gun culture, so of course in conservative Midland you wouldn’t want to talk against guns because that sounds too much like a liberal concern,” he added. “In an environment where people seem to be quite fearful that they may be stripped of their right to bear arms, we don’t really speak of those things -- that would be sensitive to the audience.”

Quotable

I think the tragedy in Charleston underscores the dangers we are increasingly facing in our culture. Extremism in all forms is on the rise. Certain people prey on places such as churches because they assume that they will face little or no resistance. Churches have the responsibility to do everything they can to protect the people entrusted to their care.

- Brian Fairchild, Colonial Bible Church

The Catholics of West Texas grieve the loss of our brothers and sisters in Christ at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, as they were cruelly murdered along with their pastor in a prayer meeting at the church last night. We stand in solidarity with their family members and fellow congregants, and we pray for their consolation and peace. Their loss is our loss. Their pain is our pain.

This brutal act of cowardice is an embarrassment to our nation. Racial prejudice is a grave sin that must be eradicated from our society.